Myths and Legends: Journeys Through Time

If you’re ever in Russia, you might want to be a careful about going into the woods. Even for a

little bit. Not only are there animals and weather conditions you would probably not want to

deal with…as well as the chance of getting lost, but there’s also Baba Yaga. Who is Baba Yaga?

Well..she’s a witch. A witch of Russian folklore actually. She’s not your typical witch fairy tale

witch in that she flies on a broom and performs magic, spells and what else. Instead, Baba

Yaga has two things. A moving, living house of which the feet are chicken legs, and a mortar

and pestle which she mainly uses for travel. The stories vary on what her house looks like.

Some say it has windows and a door, some say only a door, while other say no windows, no

door, only a chimney though which she enters and exits. All stories agree though that the

house is a log cabin that either moves around on chicken legs, is surrounded by a fence made

out of the bones of her victims (often children) or both. Oh, it would seem that I forgot to

mention that Baba Yaga was a cannibal. She was particularly fond of children and a good

number of tales involve her seeking out children to eat. Whether or not she ever actually

found any, depends on the story. Mostly she was used to teach a lesson of why a child should

always behave. In a way you could say she was the Russian version of the Boogey Man. Quite

often she fulfilled the role of a donor. In essence, she would help a hero or heroine with their

journey but only if they did something for her in return…and quite often it was unpleasant.

Sometimes she was willing to help, sometimes she wasn’t. Like all beings of mythical nature,

she could be tricked. Especially if one knew the phrase that got her house to show the front

door. If a person uttered the phrase ”Turn your back to the forest, and your front to me.” then

the house would turn around revealing it’s door to whomever spoke the phrase. In some

stories Baba Yaga is accompanied by three riders. One rider dressed completely in

white;white rider, white horse, white outfit. This rider represented Day. A second rider

dressed completely in red; red rider, red horse, red outfit. This rider was the sun and a third

rider who was dressed completely in black; black rider, black horse and black outfit. This rider

was Night. Baba Yaga also has servants…but they’re invisible and inquiring about them would

mostly likely get a person killed. Inquiring about the riders is alright though. Baba Yaga’s

main mode of transportation is a mortar and pestle. She travels in the mortar at great speeds,

using the pestle as an oar to direct her. She also sweeps away her tracks with a broom made

of silver birch, so she’s not exactly easy to find. People do come across her though. If they’re

kind, good of heart and pure of spirit…she’s more likely to help. If they’re rude, mean and

just generally unlikeable…she’s more likely to eat them.